War of Darkness
by Sneasel Assassin
Summary: After receiving an unexpected Dark-type starter Pokemon, I decided I would do whatever it took to rise to the top of the Kalos region. I just never expected the journey to lead me where it did.
1. The Road is Cold

Chapter 1

 _beep beep beep beep beep_

My hand slowly crept out of my sheets do the bedside table and felt around, ultimately finding my way to the phone and pressing the snooze button. "Five more minutes," I grumbled, rolling over and pretending it never went off.

The moment passed very quickly, however, when I realized what today was. I sprang up, nearly floating out of my bed and ran out of the room, stumbling into the foyer as I began getting dressed. _Today is the day_ I thought, almost tripping in the doorway as I tugged my shirt over my head.

My family runs a generations-old private investigative service for the wealthier cliental in the Kalos region. And many of us, including, begin training at a very young age in the art of ninjutsu, staving off Pokémon training until we turn twelve, rather than the traditional age of ten. But today was my twelfth birthday, and I could not have been more excited to begin my journey, especially because my father was also a Gym Trainer for the Anistar City Pokémon Gym.

I found my parents in the backyard, watching them perform their usual Saturday morning routine of sparring. Our whole family specializes in Psychic Pokémon, and my parents were no exception. I guess it was because of how useful they were in our line of work, but I never really thought too much about it.

My father's Gallade was exchanging hits with my mother's Medicham, gracefully sparring in a hypnotic dance of blows. I have always loved how beautiful Psychic Pokémon looked when they battled, especially when they were part Fighting type, like my parents'.

My father glanced over at me, sensing my arrival. He silently called off the Pokémon and ran to me, picking me up and hoisting me onto his shoulders. I loved when he did this, even though it reminded of just how short I was for my age. He looked up at me, smiling.

"Happy birthday, son," my mom told me, gently pulling my head down and kissing me on the forehead. "Are you excited to begin your journey today?"

"Definitely," I yelled out, swinging my legs back and jumping off of my dad. I could hardly contain my excitement. "What kind of Pokémon did you get me?"

My dad chuckled, pulling out a minimized Dusk Ball and tossing it to me. I looked at it more closely, admiring the green circles painted around it. I looked back up at my dad, and seeing his nod of approval, tossed the ball into the air. As the ball opened and released an orb of blue light, I suddenly realized that I hadn't been breathing. Finally, my very own Psychic Pokémon. I was finally going to follow in my family's footsteps.

I'm pretty sure that was the last thought I had in my head before I made eye contact with a very vicious looking weasel.

._._.

"But a _Sneasel_ , mom? Why a Sneasel? It's a Dark type!" I didn't understand why they would give me such a thing. They are notoriously difficult Pokémon to train.

"Sweetie, we told you. We think it would benefit you a lot to begin with a Pokémon that will challenge you." I shook my head in defiance. "But why wouldn't you give me a Psychic Pokémon? Don't you want me to ?"

My mom sat on the edge of my bed, pulling me towards her and I rested my head on her chest. "Sweetie… Sometimes, you have to discover your own path in life. Your father and I, we see how talented you are in your training. We just don't want you to think that this is the only life you are destined for."

I guess I understood that, but... "Why a Sneasel?" I couldn't wrap my head around their choice in Pokémon. My father chuckled in the doorway in response. "Honestly son," he said, sitting down on my other side, "because Mr. Wulfric was adamant in you starting with an Ice type. And he said he would give us the perfect Sneasel for you."

Wulfric was my father's best friend and the Ice Gym Leader in Kalos. He lived in the next city down, and we go visit him on occasion. "I forgot Sneasel was part Ice," I said, holding its ball in my hand.

After a few moments, I shrugged off, standing up and holding my ball in the air. "Alright then, Sneasel it is! I'll be sure to make you both proud." My mother clapped her hands together and my father got up and hugged me before sending me out into the world.

._._.

The world sucked. Making our way to Lumiose City was a lot harder than what I had originally thought it would be. It took me two days to make it to the Mamoswine Road, only to find out that they were temporarily out of service, so I had to trek across the snow in Route 17 by foot. And to make matters worse, I had to run from every single wild Pokémon.

Because my Sneasel refused to battle.

Luckily, the trainers in the area took pity on me and didn't force me to battle them, because then I would just have to surrender each time. But the snowy path was not an easy thing to cross, especially when my Sneasel also refused to go in its ball, opting instead to stop every couple of minutes to dig around in the snow.

Finally, after a week of blistering cold and multiple bruises now decorating my body, we made it through the route. Walking towards the entrance of Dendemille town, I was relieved to be near civilization once again. "Well buddy, we're almost at our first town. Maybe we can try battling someone." I glanced back at my Sneasel, only to see him combing through his fur, completely ignoring me.

I stopped right outside of the town's entrance and stared at him. "You're going to have to start listening to me, Sneasel. I'm your trainer and sooner or later you will have to start acting like my Pokémon!" My voice got louder, but before I could continue, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned around, now facing a very intimidating man. Well, not man; he looked about seventeen. He leered down at me, his hands now crossed over his body. "That's no way to talk to your Pokémon. If your Sneasel doesn't listen to you, it's probably because you haven't been treating it right."

I just stared at the guy silently, too shocked to say anything. After a few beats, the guy walked past me, kneeling down in front of my Sneasel. He whispered something to it, and the two seemed to have a conversation. The guy pulled out a little pink cube, and Sneasel snatched it out of his hand and ate it, smiling. He got back up, facing me once again.

"So, what's your Sneasel's name?"

"Uhm… name?" He put his head into his hands in obvious disappointment, "You didn't even bother to give him a name? No wonder he doesn't get along with you." I knew most trainers named their Pokémon, but I didn't really give it much thought.

I immediately felt bad for not treating my Sneasel like I should have, and it was then I decided that I would appreciate the Pokémon I had. "Hey buddy, would you like me to give you a name," I asked my Sneasel, squatting down next to it. It began grooming itself and pretended not to hear me. I sighed.

"Hmmm. What about… Tachi. You like that name?" The little weasel looked up, its pink ear twitching in excitement. A grin spread wide across its face and its little eyes closed. "Snea!" I smiled back and pet it, realizing it was the first time since getting it that I actually touched it. The trainer chuckled lightly and turned around, walking towards Mamoswine Road.

"Hey wait," I called out, stopping him. "What's your name?" He chuckled again and kept walking. After a few seconds, I heard him yell out, "Its Xander."

I smiled and looked down at Tachi. I now had a goal. Next time I met Xander, I was going to battle him. And I was going to win. With that decided, I entered Dendemille town, Tachi's soft footsteps trailing closely behind.


	2. When It Rains

Chapter 2

About a month later, we made it to Lumiose City. The journey was taking a lot longer than I originally thought, but it was so worth it. I won my first Pokémon battle along the way and Tachi became much better behaved. Battling was everything I wanted and more, but traveling with Tachi was honestly the best part.

Around noon I started getting hungry so Tachi and I stopped at a small café near the Lumiose Gym. I was itching to challenge the leader, but with only one battle under my belt I there was no way I was winning. After ordering a slice of cake and realizing Tachi was bound to eat at least half of it, we sat down at a small table in the back corner. When I looked around to see if my cake was ready yet, a red banner scrolling across the television caught my attention. I got up and walked closer so I could hear the reporter.

"… making this the fourth trainer to go missing since June. Officials have no leads to these disappearances, but say they are hopeful…"

"Sir, your cake," the barista chimed, tearing my attention away from the screen. She noticed I was looking at it and sighed. "It's sad, isn't it? No one is sure what's going on. And all four were supposed contenders for the League."

I vaguely remembered my parents discussing this one morning before I was completely awake. Because of the business my family runs, we are visited regularly by League officials whenever something this strange happens. They pay my mother a hefty fee to investigate cases they can't solve themselves, but from what I recall even she didn't really know what was going on. Four League contenders, all with six or seven badges, mysteriously disappearing within a three month time span with no signs of struggle and no evidence; something like this has never happened before.

I thanked her for the cake and brought it to the table, Tachi purring at the sight of the strawberry icing. I was enjoying my time with Tachi, but I needed to battle some more trainers soon or I would go broke. Luckily, I heard the park in Lumiose always had trainers willing to battle. "Tachi," I leaned in and whispered, grabbing his attention, "do you want to battle some more?"

"Snea!" His tail feathers twitched in excitement. I guess he was down. We finished off the cake and exited the shop, walking towards the park. The city was filled with Pokémon I had never seen before; Lumiose was a gigantic tourist spot, so trainers from other regions frequent it with their foreign Pokémon all the time.

We got to the park and sure enough a crowd was gathered around two trainers going at it. I peeked through two spectators just as a Tepig was doused in water, causing it to faint. "Tepig is unable to battle! Trainer Emile wins!" A spectator must have decided to jump in as a referee.

The girl, Emile, jumped up and down in excitement as her Staryu glided over to her. She returned it to its Pokéball and collected the winnings, patting her opponent on the back and smiling at him. She turned around and called out, "Anybody else wants to battle?"

Everyone began to murmur, no one stepping up to her challenge. I ran through the crowd, Tachi right behind me, and pointed to her. "Alright Emile, I accept your challenge!" Tachi chimed in as well, squealing in anticipation. She looked us over and nodded, stepping back on the opposite side of the makeshift arena.

"The battle will be one on one, no substitutions," the ref announced. "Trainers, you may begin!"

"Tachi, let's go!" My Sneasel jumped into the arena and extended its claws. Emile smiled. "A Sneasel, huh? Well then, let's go Shuckle!" Emile tossed a Pokéball and out came a little Shuckle. _It's so tiny,_ I thought.

I decided to go on the offensive. "Fury Swipes!" Tachi ran for the Shuckle as it sat idly. Emile called out, "Withdraw," and it snuck into its shell. As soon as Tachi's claws hit the shell, I knew it had been ineffective. "Shuckle, Rollout!"

The red shell began to spin, chasing the now-fleeing weasel. "Tachi, dodge it," I cried, but it was too fast. The shell crashed against Tachi, sending him flying across the arena. The Shuckle emerged from its shell, a smug look on its dopy face. I was more determined than ever. We were taking this thing down.

"Tachi, get back up and use Feint Attack," I called, hearing the word Withdraw come from Emile. Tachi began to sprint, fading in and out of sight before appearing behind the Shuckle, kicking it away. "Rollout, once more!" The shell began to spin back, swiftly knocking into Tachi again; we were losing and I had to think of something fast.

Emile smiled at me. "Ready to surrender yet? You can't beat us with an Ice type." I grunted and looked at my Sneasel.

"If only you knew a Water move, Tachi." The Sneasel's head tilted in confusion and looked back at the Shuckle. After a moment, Tachi closed his eyes and looked up at the sky. He cried out, his feathered-ear began to shine with a bright blue light, and two spheres of water began to form in his claws.

"What the hell?" muttered both me and Emile. Tachi cried out again and threw the spheres into the air. As they collided, the arena became drenched in a heavy downpour. The Shuckle looked around frantically, looking for some kind of cover from the rain.

I couldn't believe it. "Tachi, did you just use Rain Dance?" The Sneasel nodded and extended its claws. I looked back at the panicking Shuckle across the field. My opportunity had come. "Alright Tachi, use Feint Attack and then Fury Swipes on its weakened shell!"

Tachi began to fade in and out once more, approaching the Shuckle who was panicking too much to hear its trainer tell it to use Withdraw. Appearing behind the Shuckle, Tachi began to rapidly slash it with his claws. After five blows, Tachi landed a clean kick, sending the Shuckle flying into a nearby tree and successfully knocking it out.

The crowd was silent for a few beats before finally erupting in applause. I ran to Tachi and picked him up, hugging him as tight as I could. I couldn't believe we won. Emile returned her Shuckle and ran towards us with a giant smile. "Wow! That was an amazing battle. I've never met a Sneasel that knew Rain Dance before." She scratched Tachi under his chin, a soft purr escaping his throat.

After a small conversation, Emile handed me 5,000 and we parted ways. She told me she already had two badges, which boosted my confidence quite a bit. I looked down at Tachi, who was currently eyeing a Pidgey nest in a nearby tree, and thought about how lucky I was. "I guess I really did get the perfect Sneasel, didn't I?" I would have to thank Wulfric whenever I made it to Snowbelle.

I wasn't really sure where to head to next, but I was itching for a badge now, so I decided on Coumarine City. The Grass gym would be perfect for Tachi and would finally give us a reason to train his Ice moves. "Tachi, come on!"

._._.

Two hours and a stop by the Pokémon Center later, Tachi and I began heading out the western gate of the city, readying ourselves for the trek through Route 13. As we reached the exit, I heard my named called out from behind me. We stopped and turned to see Emile's blonde waves bouncing in the sunlight as she ran towards us. Tachi let out a small cry of joy as I smiled and waved back at her.

"What's up, Emile?" She was trying to ask me something in between her breaths, but I wasn't getting any of it. Finally she took inhaled heavily and looked up.

"Let's travel together, at least until we get to Coumarine City? I was going to challenge the Lumiose Gym, but I think I can learn a thing or two from you first." Tachi immediately jumped into Emile's arms and began to nuzzle her in excitement. I was a little surprised by the question, but it wasn't all that uncommon for trainers to journey together. And from the looks of Tachi, I don't think he'd be happy if I said no.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan!" We all nodded in agreement and Tachi jumped off, landing in his spot to my right. I was glad I made a friend, but I had no idea how much trouble it would get me into.


End file.
